Young Volcanoes
by swaggyzebraTW
Summary: The gang gets together to try to figure out more of their special abilities. Shelton and Hi have to leave early, both having things they must do, and that leaves Ben and Tory alone. They try out Tory's mental abilities, and one thing leads to another; soon they both know each-other's feelings. BenxTory fluff. Please review.


**A/N: This is my first Virals fic, although I have written for Kathy Reich's stuff before. (Temperance Brennan novels.) Anyway, this might be a little OOC, though I have another one-shot that I can post if you like this one. **

**Disclaimer: All rights go to Kathy Reichs and her son, along with their people. I do not own any of these characters. *Sigh***

_**SNAP.**_

The change came fast and hard, nearly knocking me to the floor of the bunker with its force. All of my senses instantly electrified, but a sharp pain came with the adjustment, and I found myself letting out a brief whimper despite my efforts to remain nonchalant.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and hot breath on my neck. "Are you okay, Tor?" Ben asked.

Nodding, I rubbed my temples in an attempt to remove the pain. Never before had it lasted this long, and I was beginning to get worried. _What if I'm suffering from disastrous side-effects of the virus? Could I be getting sick? Am I dying? _

I shoved those unwanted thoughts aside, knowing I couldn't reassure my fellow pack-mates if I was thinking about me dying. In fact, I was most likely overreacting for nothing, and the pain would probably dull momentarily. I hoped, anyway.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I lied. "Just a hard change, I suppose."

Ben looked skeptical, and gave me an "I obviously don't believe you, but I'll pursue this later" look; Hi and Shelton were golden-eyed and shrugged my comment off, clearly believing me enough to not question it, and therefore they continued talking about their latest geo-cacheing adventure.

I sat up off the floor, and allowed Ben to pull me back onto my feet. Wiping my hands on my jeans, I straightened out my back, and clasped my hands together in front of me. My head still felt crappy, but the pain had lessened enough that I could ignore it a little, and the room only moved a little while I stood.

"So," I said in a fairly loud voice, pulling Shelton and Hi way from their conversation. "What should we try to learn about our flares today?"

Hiram shrugged, removing his sweatshirt—which was inside out—and placing it onto one of the chairs. "I don't have a lot of time; my mom wants me home soon to clean my room."

"I have to leave soon as well." Shelton stated, sounding apologetic. "I have to make dinner tonight, as my dad isn't going to be home in time to."

Looking to Ben, I almost expected him to come up with an excuse to leave early. He met my gaze, but said nothing of the sort. His irises were golden like the rest of ours, and it was good to see that flaring was becoming easier for him, as he had always had trouble with it when the rest of the pack hadn't.

Despite my aching head, I still wanted to try out my mental skills with the rest of the pack around and flared. "Can I try—" I began, only to get cut off by Shelton, whose eyes had widened.

"No way," he said, shaking his head. "You don't need to try any of your creepy mental magic on me."

"Please? I promise to be careful, and not probe through your thoughts."

Hi groaned, rolling his eyes. "Fine, Tory, but this is the last time. If it doesn't work, or if something goes wrong, we're stopping, and not doing it ever again. Okay?"

Shelton sighed theatrically. "I guess I'll do it if Hi is," he said.

I glanced to Ben. "Please?" I asked him, practically begging.

He looked unsure, but nodded tersely. "Sure, Tor, but be careful, okay. And whatever you do, don't go probing through my head. Okay? Just try to send a message or two and we're done."

Nodding enthusiastically, I suppressed the urge to pump my fists with happiness, and closed my eyes. Almost instantly, the ropes connecting me to the rest of my pack appeared, and I grapes one at random.

_Hello?_ I projected, only to have it bounce off some invisible boundary and come back at me. My fists clenched, and I picked another line in attempt to have success.

_Can you hear me?_ I asked, only for the question to bounce away once more, never reaching its intended target.

My eyes snapped open, and I shook my head in dismay. "Why won't this work?" I asked, the whole pack staring at me nervously, looking as though they had braced for the worst.

Hi straightened up a little and picked up his sweatshirt, pulling it over his head. "I guess it just wasn't meant to be," he said, walking over towards the door of the bunker. "Maybe you're just going insane, Tory, and you're just imagining that you have the ability to speak to us through your mind."

"But you _heard_ me before!" I defended, only to watch him shrug and exit, presumably hopping on his bike so he could race home to his mother, and avoid all of my further attempts to speak to him mentally.

"Sorry, Tory," Shelton said, also walking to the door. "Stinks that you can't quite figure it out, but I have to leave, too."

With that, Shelton left the bunker, closing the door behind him and leaving me alone with Benjamin Blue. I looked over to him, seeing that his eyes were still glowing in the dimness of the room, telling me that he was still flared.

I sat down heavily on the nearby bench, sighing. "Why didn't it work?" I asked quietly, placing my head in my hands.

He sat down next to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I don't know. Maybe it was just a one-time thing."

"It happened multiple times." I said, shaking my head. "And it saved our lives. It would help if I knew how to do it, so that I could if we needed to."

"Could it be for emergencies only?"

I shook my head. "I don't think super-special Viral wolf powers work like that."

Suddenly, I fell to the floor, clutching my head as it seemed to explode. A terrible cry escaped my lips, and I become only vaguely aware of Ben's worried voice in the distance, and his hands clutching at me frantically.

My legs curled in towards my chest, making me end up in the fetal position on the floor of the bunker. The pain in my brain only amplified, feeling like a heavy pulse within my skull. Desperate, I rocked myself back and forth, tears squeezing from my eyes and running down my cheeks.

"Tory‽" **(A/N: I haven't the slightest clue whether or not that interrobang showed up or not. If it didn't, there was one there.) **Ben asked, his voice sounding distant in my ears.

Unable to reply, I simply reached blindly with my arms, groping until I felt something to clutch onto. I felt Ben's arms, and dug my nails into his flesh as another piercing wave of pain rolled through my head.

"Help," I whimpered weakly. "It hurts so much—"

I felt a hand stroking my hair, and heard his voice in my ears. "What can I do, Tor?"

My eyes opened, and I found that my face was awfully close to Ben's. The weird teenager part of me kinda wondered what it would feel like to kiss his lips, while the logical, in pain part of me was too busy trying not to die that his closeness didn't matter in that way.

Before I could answer him, the pain abruptly vanished, leaving nothing in its wake but an odd sense of vertigo. I leaned back into Ben's shoulder, breathing heavily after that little episode. My thoughts swam about what exactly had just happened, although I couldn't formulate the slightest of logical answers. _Maybe I have brain cancer_, I thought, _and maybe that was the warning that I only have a few weeks left on this planet. _

Hot, even breaths against the nape of my neck broke me out of my reverie, and I turned to see a very worried and awkward Ben behind me. His eyes were wide; his mouth slightly agape as though he wished to say something but had no idea what to say.

"I'm okay now, I guess." I said, smiling weakly. "The pain's all gone now."

He cocked his head to the side a little as though he were searching my face for any hidden pain or lies. "Are you sure, Tory? What happened right there?"

One look told me his flare was still standing, which was weird. Usually, they died out after a period of time, or would end after a stressful situation. The fact that his was still going strong, along with my own, was slightly odd. Just like me going through that short bout of pain.

Closing my eyes to relax, a single rope appeared in my mind, with a small frayed one on the side that probably belonged to Cooper. Curious, I tugged on the larger of the two ropes, and was surprised when I met no resistance.

Within seconds, I was bombarded with thoughts; all of which not my own. Images flickered behind my lids, mostly of myself, sprawled out on the floor in pain just a few moments ago. Seeing how Ben was the only Viral who knew of that event and witnessed it first-hand, I knew I was in his mind.

_What just happened? Is Tory okay? She looks really pretty right now… Stop it, Ben, she could be hurt, and she's your best friend, so you shouldn't be thinking about her in that way. Why are her eyes closed? Why do I feel a little funky, like someone's in my head? _The thoughts said, suddenly stopping.

_TORY! _The mental voice boomed, almost knocking me backwards. _Get out of my head, now!_ It said.

_Ben?_ I projected, trying to see if my means of communication were actually working. _Did you just call me pretty?_ I added as an afterthought, not really meaning for it to be projected, but there seemed to be no wall between our minds.

_GET OUT! GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!_ He screamed, his thoughts becoming desperate and frantic.

Before I could pry further, I felt the air rush out of my lungs as my back hit the floor.

_**SNUP.**_

The connection was harshly severed.

"What the hell, Tory‽" A voice said loudly, right over my face.

Opening my eyes, I saw that I was pinned to the floor, with Ben's furious golden irises boring purposefully into my eyes. His hands were atop my wrists, binding my arms to the cold floor of our secret bunker. My chest was heaving, and hit his with every single inhale. Ben's knees were on both side of my hips, in an angry straddle-position. I would have blushed if I hadn't known better than he was simply infuriated, and was probably pondering ripping my head of my shoulders.

"It worked?" I said weakly, turning my face away from his to avoid his gaze.

"Who cares‽" He said, clearly upset. "You went through my _head_, Tory. The one place I told you to never go."

I wiggled under his grasp, trying to move a little, with no such luck. "I didn't mean to, Ben." I apologized. "It just… happened."

He rolled off me, scoffing as he got back onto his feet. "Well, I guess everyone has their days when they READ SOMEONE'S MIND, by accident, of course."

"Ben—"

He held up a hand. "Well, I'm glad you're okay. As you probably figured out, I was worried about you."

"Ben—" I tried again, to no avail.

His back was turned. "I have to go, Tory."

"I said I was sorry, Ben!" I snapped, causing him to face me once more. "I just saw the link, and went for it. I'm sorry for trying to learn little more about our virus. I'll never try again, okay?"

"Tory—"

"Don't." I warned, walking up to him. "I'm only doing all of this experimenting for the pack, not you."

"Why can't any of the rest of us see into your head?" He mumbled softly, looking to the floor.

I began to pace. "I don't know, Ben. Have you even tried?"

He shrugged. "You've never taught us how you do it, exactly."

"Do you think anyone told me how to do it?" I snapped, before speaking in a softer tone. "Sorry, but honestly, Ben! I had to figure all this crap out for myself. Not to mention, all of you guys are giving me shit for trying."

His voice was barely audible as he whispered, "Can you flare again?"

Feeling bad for snapping at him, I nodded. "Sure."

Tapping into the deep recess within my mind, I tapped into the wolf gene, and welcomed the change that overcame me. Unlike before, it was fairly easy and painless, and I managed to keep standing as my senses sharpened themselves.

_**SNAP.**_

Reopening my eyes, I looked to Ben with my newly golden irises. "Ready?" I asked him.

"Yep. What should I look for?"

I saw the rope connecting me to him in my head, and tentatively reached out to it. Instead of trying to speak to him as I had earlier, or invade his mental privacy, I simply tried to project an image of the ropes connecting us, hoping that he could see them through me.

_Can you see it?_ I projected, waiting for his mental response.

"Did you just send me a picture with your mind?" Ben's voice asked, sounding distant in front of me.

_Try to speak with your mind instead of your mouth,_ I said to him. _See if you can spot the rope between us, and reach out to it. _

I felt an odd pulling sensation, and then heard, _Tory?_

_Ben?_ I asked, wondering if it was him talking to me, or me reading his mind.

_Is it working?_ He asked, sounding lost and spacey in my head.

_Yes!_ I exclaimed, hopeful that we had just found a new mean for communication in the pack.

Suddenly I felt a weird pinch, and I began to instantly feel vulnerable. All of the memories of Ben and I flashed before my eyelids, and every single statement I had ever thought about my feelings for him surfaced. The odd sensation that I was being watched rose.

_Ben?_ I questioned, sounding super-nervous and paranoid, even to myself.

There was no immediate response.

_Ben?_ I tried again, becoming worried. Unsure of what to do, I decided it was a decent enough time to hack into his thoughts. Following the line of the connection, I tapped into his head, and was very surprised at what I saw.

Everything I was thinking was in his head, which could only mean one thing: he was picking through my thoughts as well. Not only that, he was pilfering through my memories, and my crush on him suddenly became obvious and known to him.

Panicking, I jumped out of his head, and severed the connection. Removing my flare, my eyes snapped open, and I tackled Ben to the floor like he had earlier. Upon impact, the breath abruptly left his lungs, and his eyes opened, revealing that his flare had collapsed as well, although I knew it was too late. He had seen it all.

"Why did you do that?" I asked, still hovering above him.

"I didn't mean to, Tory. It just happened, and then—" He trailed off.

I lightly shook his shoulders. "Then what‽ You decided to snoop through all my memories?"

Ben shook his head. "I wasn't planning on it, but then I saw a bunch of memories of you and me together, and I wanted to know what you thought of me, Tory. Do you really like me?"

Turning away, I made a move to get off him, only for him to reach out and hold me in place. "Let me go—" I said weakly, refusing to meet his gaze.

"I think I like you, Tory. I have for a while now." Ben admitted. "And if you like me too, I'd like to give us a chance. I know it was wrong to go into your head, but I really wanted to know."

_Did he just say what I thought he said?_ I asked myself, feeling the olympic sweat levels rising. My hands involuntarily clenched into his shirt near the shoulders, and I breathed deeply, unsure of what to do. Fight or flight mode wanted to engage, but I found that I neither wanted to fight Ben or take off on him.

"Are you serious?" I managed to ask him, my voice sounding weak even to myself. "Because if you're not—"

"Tor, why would I lie about this?"

I shrugged. "I don't know…"

He said nothing, but I felt his lips meet mine suddenly. I was shocked at first, and unsure of what to do, so I just sat there for a few seconds, motionless. Eventually, right when he was about to pull away, I kissed him back, knowing that I had been hoping for this to happen for a while.

There was no tongue involved in our kiss, and it wasn't overly long, yet it seemed to do us more good than words would have been able to. My hands left Ben's shoulders and tangled into his dark hair, and his rested on my waist.

When we finally pulled away, we were both breathless and grinning madly at each other.

"So…" I said lamely, still smiling. "What does that make us?"

Ben shrugged from below me, making me blush as I remembered that I was still straddling him on the bunker floor. I hopped off him, and wiped some of the dust that had settled on the knees of my jeans. Reaching out a hand, I pulled him up as well, and we stood, simply looking at each other.

Eventually, the silence grew so uncomfortable that I just broke it. "We should probably get going."

"Yeah," he agreed. "I have to go have dinner, but you're welcome to come over if you like—"

I was about to agree to his offer when I remembered that Kit's demonic barbie of a girlfriend was coming over tonight, and I had to have dinner with them. "Can't, Whitney's over."

"That sucks."

"Yeah."

**A/N: Sorry for that ending, but I just felt like I needed to post something since it's been so long… I've been busy, I'm sorry, and I know this was nothing special. Thanks for reading, anyway, and please review, as it means a lot. **


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